Lion choker necklace

Animals are often a great inspiration for crafting, especially jewellery making. This Lion choker necklace is easy to make with a few tools and cheap materials. And it can be a lovely present to a little girl or someone who is animal lover. Using two-tone organza creates a fabulous colour effect, so be sure to have a piece of this. You could also try the more traditional method of using wool to make a lion’s mane. Let’s make some jewellery!

Material you need

1 x 16 in (405 mm) of gold choker wire

20 x 20 in (500 x 500 mm) of two-tone organza

6 in (150 mm) of gold wire (SWG 21, 0.8 mm)

3 x 22 mm cord beads

1 x sheet of tan-coloured felt

1 x sheet of stiff cardboard

side cutters, snipe-nose pliers, needle, scissors, craft knife

Latex-based rubber cement (Copydex)

Felt-tip pens

How to make it

1 Cut a small slit approximately 20mm from the edge of your fabric and tear the strip off with your hands. This will give you a perfect straight edge of organza, as it is tearing along the weave. Then holding the edges of the fabric, pull some of the threads away to leave a fluffy edge. Keep repeating this step so you have 15 strips of fabric all the same length.

2 Cut two circles with a diameter of 2in (50mm) from your sheet of stiff card. Then cut a 30mm hole out of the centre of each circle to leave 10mm ring. Place these two rings on top of each other and start to wrap the strips of fabric around the rings.When you finish wrapping one strip, just start another one on top. There’s no need to tie them together.

3 When you have used all 15 strips, slide a craft knife through the strips of fabric to find the space between the cardboard rings. Once located, continue slicing the fabric strips—or alternatively swap to scissors—and carry on cutting all the way around the ring edge.

4 Cut another strip of organza and place it between the two cardboard rings that are now fully exposed and tie a knot as tightly as possible. This will trap all the cut pieces of organza and you will be able to slide each cardboard ring away, leaving you with a fluffy pompom. Do not cut away the long ends from the knot yet.

5 Draw the shape of the lion’s head onto your tan felt and cut it out. Using fine point felt-tip pens, draw on the lion’s face.

6 Cut two small triangles from your felt and—using a needle and tan-colored thread—pinch the triangle so it forms an ear shape. Sew a few stitches to hold it in place.

7 Holding the pompom with the tie ends at the centre back, you should be able to part the organza strips and flatten them down to the strip that is holding everything. Glue the lion’s felt face at this point.When it is dry, sew your two ears set slightly back above the face.

8 Hold the pompom so the face is at the front and the tie ends are at the back. Part the organza strips at one side to reveal where the central hole of the rings used to be. Thread your 6in (150mm) length of gold wire all the way through at this point. You can now cut away the long ties at the back of the pompom.

9 Take your gold choker wire and unscrew the ball at one end. Thread on one of your cord beads. Then, holding your lion’s head against the choker, start to wrap one end of the gold wire around it. Cut away the excess wire after several coils. Wrap the other end of the gold wire around the choker several times and cut away the excess wire. Finally, thread on the other two beads and screw the ball back on the choker.